Johnny Depp, Will Smith, George Clooney on ‘overpaid’ Forbes list

NEW YORK: Johnny Depp and Will Smith topped a list on Wednesday of Hollywood’s most overpaid actors, an illustration that star power does not always bring in dollars at the movie box-office.

Fan favourite George Clooney also found himself on the annual Forbes list after the limited commercial appeal of films like “Hail Caesar,” “Money Monster” and the 2015 flop “Tomorrowland.” Depp led the list for the second straight year after his movie “Alice Through The Looking Glass” brought in just $300 million at the global box-office after costing about $170 million to produce.

Forbes compiles the list by comparing the estimated pay for a lead actor in his or her last three movies with the estimated production costs and box-office gross of those movies.

It calculated that Depp, whose 2015 movie “Mortdecai” also bombed, returned just $2.8 dollars at the box-office for every $1 he was paid.

Depp, 53, who became one of Hollywood’s highest paid actors with “Pirates of the Caribbean,” also had a bad 2016 on the personal front. His split from actress Amber Heard made headlines when the pair exchanged allegations of violence and blackmail that were later dropped, and Depp paid out $7 million in a divorce settlement.

“Concussion”, the 2015 film about football head injuries that starred Smith, grossed just $13 million more than its $34 million budget. It followed disappointing receptions for “Focus” and “After Earth” and led to a $5 return at the box-office for every $1 Smith was paid, Forbes calculated.

Clooney came in 5th on the list, with a box office return of $6.70 for every $1 he was paid, largely because of the failure of “Tomorrowland” which cost $190 million to produce.

“Magic Mike” stars Channing Tatum and comedian Will Ferrell rounded out the top 5 on Forbes list of most overpaid actors.